The perfect book to read on the way to Scotland was "The Right Attitude to Rain", by Alexander McCall Smith. 
McCall Smith, in addition to being an author, is an ethicist, and a professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh. Many of his novels take place in Edinburgh, so it's fun to read his books and occasionally recognize a street or landmark.
His "44 Scotland Street" series are published a chapter at a time in The Scotsman, the country's biggest newspaper.
This particular novel is the latest chapter in the life of Isabel Dalhousie, philosopher and editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. These are very gentle mysteries. Isabel is a bit nosy and ferrets out mysteries, and muses about ethical dilemmas, and occasionally shares Scots poetry. We also share her personal life, and that of her niece, Cat, which give her more ethical dilemmas than anything in her somewhat dry journal.
It makes for very relaxing reading, and was the perfect first book for my vacation.
McCall Smith is also the author of the very different but equally enjoyable, best selling series about the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Oh, I just love his books. And don't forget about the hapless German linguist von Igelfeld in "Portuguese Irregular Verbs." Extra fun for linguists!
Posted by: LC | November 10, 2006 at 09:01 AM
His books are fantastic! I finished 'Espresso Tales' last night. There's a 3rd book in the series-must read it!
Posted by: Maeuschen | July 02, 2007 at 12:22 AM